Weather

The thunderstorm threat temporarily took off as one area of upper-level low pressure moved off to the east overnight, but that threat will increase once again -- especially Monday -- as a new upper low slides south from British Columbia.

Due to its' counter-clockwise circulation, this new upper low has helped increase the onshore flow. That has led to widespread cloud cover this morning, with many areas of drizzle being reported. The marine layer is thicker today, so there will be little if any sunshine this afternoon. Daytime high temperatures will stay in the mid-60s, 10 degrees cooler than normal. There is a very small late-day thunderstorm threat, mainly north of Everett closer to the low.

Getting to our sweet summer sunshine in Western Washington is kind of like going through childbirth: the nine previous months of damp and gray are all forgiven, and we bask in the glow of blue skies and perfect temperatures that are the envy of the rest of the nation. We turned the corner into our sensational summer season just in time for the Fourth of July, and now that summer is here, it's here to stay.

Overall, our weather pattern won't change much over the next several days. Thanks to that big upper ridge of high pressure that is finally nudging into the Northwest, we'll keep mainly sunny skies and highs close to 80 degrees near Seattle on Sunday and Monday. The Southwest Interior will hit the middle 80s Sunday, whereas the San Juans and Port Angeles will stay in the low to middle 70s.

The only element that we'll really need to keep an eye on will be the chance for thundershower development over the Cascades. There will definitely be thundershowers brewing in the Columbia Basin on Sunday, and some of these will likely drift up toward the Cascade crest by the evening. There is even a chance that a cell or two may wander down into the lowlands of the Sound late Sunday and early Monday. These summer storms tend to be heavy on the lightning but light on the rain, thus leading to higher fire danger. We'll keep you posted if any of these thundershowers meander into our neck of the woods. At this point, definitely count on a few pockets of thunder and lightning over the Cascades and into Eastern Washington over the next couple of days.

We will continue with unsettled weather for the rest of the weekend and the start of your workweek. Plan on mostly cloudy skies with showers at times on Sunday. Some of those showers will be intense, but short lived. We will also get some sunbreaks.

Highs on Sunday will be on the cool side, only getting to the mid to upper 60s. Areas in the north Sound and along the coast will be in the upper 50s to low 60s.

The large area of low pressure off the coast of Oregon will continue spinning showers up our direction on Monday and Tuesday. The sun will peek through at times as well. Highs will stay about 5 degrees below normal.

That low will shift to the east starting on Tuesday with high pressure moving in on Wednesday. If you are waiting of sunny skies, Wednesday and Thursday look like your best bet, with highs jumping to the low to mid 70s.

Our cool and cloudy June continued, with mainly overcast skies and highs closer to 60 rather than 70 (where they should be--on average--this time of year) on Saturday. A few stray showers fell near the Cascade foothills, but overall it was mainly dry. While it was calm around the Central Sound, blustery winds gust to 30 mph or more in the NW and SW Interiors, as yesterday's low moved over the Cascades and continued to drive some blustery conditions in its wake. A few peaks of sunshine here and there were a sign of quite a bit more blue sky to come tomorrow.

We'll stay mainly cloudy overnight, and lows will drop into the 40s by sunrise. Thereafter, it will brighten up and warm up as high pressure builds back in over the Northwest. Our thermometers will respond to the clearing by topping out in the middle to upper 60s...a nice finish to the weekend.

Expect to wake up cloudy again on Sunday morning across most of western Washington. We even have a few misty spots out there. Right now we are waiting for the next system to show up overnight bringing us increasing showers for the Monday morning commute.

Sunday should bring us mostly cloudy skies with some sunbreaks in the afternoon. Highs today will hit the mid 60s.

That system lurking out in the Pacific is ready to make our Monday a soggy one with showers and breezy conditions throughout the day. Highs will hit the low to mid 60s.

Tuesday we stay gray with showers at times.

For Wednesday, and into the weekend, a mix of clouds, showers and sunbreaks returns.

Right now our forecast models say it's going to be really tough to break 70s degrees during the work week ahead.